Fresh Start
by SophieClarke15
Summary: It's Maximum's first day at Ardenne High School. She wanted to get a fresh start, develop a new identity. But in her home room, she encountered a young boy she met at summer camp. A young boy who already knew her secrets. Possible romance.
1. Chapter 1

**Ok guys, I know I have Another Maximum Ride Story to finish, But I have a bit of writer's block concerning that story. So I decided to go online and find a prompt and write on that to make up for neglecting y'all. It's much longer than what I usually write... Please enjoy **

I took a seat at the back of the classroom, hoping no one would notice me. Notice that I was new. I watched as teenagers filtered into the classroom. The _gentlemen_, as Ardenne referred to the males in their handbook, were smartly outfitted in white button down shirts and navy blue trousers. The young ladies wore crisp, white button down blouses tucked neatly into navy blue pleated skirts.

I took a deep breath as the crowd of young people started to grow. They flocked inside cheerfully, chattering non-stop about their trips to France and Italy and England over the summer holidays. They were all so caught up in their own worlds that no one noticed me. And that was exactly how I wanted it.

After what had happened while at my old school, my parents decided that it was time for me to get a change of scenery for Senior Year. They let me go to a summer camp in our home town, Nevada. Afterwards, it was off to Ardenne High School, a catholic school in Illinois for the new school year. I was happy. Well, as happy as I could have been considering the situation. I would no longer have to go to school and keep up the pretence that everything was all dandelions and rainbows and unicorns and leprechauns. No one would expect me to be Miss Perfect. No one would know about my secrets or my scars. I could start over. Be a new person.

The bracelets I wore on my hands jingled as I reached for my bottled water. I took deep gulps as the bell rang for Homeroom. Our teacher walked in a few seconds after the bell had stopped ringing. He was a tall, slim man of dark complexion. He had dark brown eyes and even darker brown hair. He introduced himself as Mr. Smith. Looking at him, he seemed like an ok teacher. He told us that he taught World History and that he would be teaching a few of us right after Homeroom. I immediately thought that that was cruel. Beyond cruel. It was abuse. History? First thing in the morning? On a Monday? Those poor souls.

All the seats in the classroom had been occupied, save the seat directly in front of me. I vaguely wondered if the person would be friendly. Despite the fact that I didn't want anyone to notice me, I still wanted to make friends. I mean I wasn't a loner. And in any case, at my old school, I always had my friends flocking me. Even people who were not my friends flocked me. That's just how it goes when you're the most popular person in Junior Year.

I had just begun to wonder if J.J, my right hand, was going to be able to manage popularity without me, when Mr. Smith called my name for attendance.

"Maximum Ride?" his deep voice called.

"Here, Sir," I responded, raising my hand.

The entire classroom of teenagers turned to stare at me. So much for going unnoticed.

"Miss Ride, I'm going to assume you're new."

"Yes, Sir" I replied.

"We do not allow deviation from the school uniform," he said strictly.

I flushed crimson and removed the bracelets. I pulled down the sleeves of my sweater and said, "I'm a bit sick today. Can I keep on my sweater?"

He nodded and replied, "Welcome to Ardenne High School."

I smiled a bit. "It's a pleasure to be here."

He continued to take attendance and the children turned around and continued to do what they had been doing before. No one mumbled about the new girl. No one snuck glances at the back of the class. I sighed and thought, _Maybe I would be able to achieve my goal._ That was until,

"Walker? Nicholas Walker?"

I snapped to attention. _No, _I prayed. _ Please let it be another Nicholas Walker. One that's never been to Nevada._

I looked around the class frantically, searching for that mop of unruly dark hair. The obsidian eyes. The half smirk. My search was futile and I breathed a sigh of relief. A sigh of sweet relief, whose life was cut short by a "Here, Sir. Sorry I'm late." coming from the door.

The deep rich tone sounded exactly like I remembered it. I slowly turned my head to the door and drank him in. My eyes roamed over his entire body. Searching for something to tell me that it wasn't the Nick that I had met, but his doppelganger. There was nothing. His hair flopped untidily over his eyes. His backpack was slung casually over one shoulder. He stood like he was hot and he knew he had everyone in the palm of his hands. Somehow, he even managed to make the demure school uniform look totally badass. As he looked around the classroom, winking at a few of the girls who had suddenly swallowed flies and had started sweating like they were in the pits of hell, his obsidian eyes fell on me. They widened slightly in recognition and I was whisked away to earlier in the summer.

_I was sitting down behind the female dorm rooms. My army knife was in my right hand and across my left hand you could see the fresh cuts that I had just made. Six of them. All horizontal. Tears were streaming down my face and blood was streaming down my forearm. _

_At dinner I had seen a twelve year old that looked exactly like my sister had. Even though she had been dead for three years, the little girl reminded me of her so much. Reminded me that it was my fault. That I had caused Ella's death. That I didn't deserve to be here because I had killed my sister. And then the little girl laughed. It sounded exactly like Ella's laugh. And it tore through me like a cutlass tore through grass._

_More tears ran down my face, hot and fast. I raised the knife for another slice._

"_What are you doing?" a gruff voice asked._

_I turned towards the owner of the voice, not even attempting to hide the cuts or the tears. He was tall. His eyes seemed almost as black as his hair. He had a kind, gentle face._

"_Are you okay?" he had_ _asked, his voice now gentle. I didn't answer. "I'm Nicholas. Nicholas Walker. But you can call me Fang"_

"_Maximum. Maximum Ride," I whispered back._

_Fang sat beside me. We sat in silence for a few moments. Then he said, "Sooo,"_

_And everything spilled out._

_I told him about Ella. How sweet and intelligent she was. How she had had her whole world ahead of her. How we had fought that night. How I had told her that I wished she was dead. How I woke up the next morning and she was hanging from the living room fan. I told him how I had started cutting myself and how my parents found me one night passed out with six different pill bottles around me. I told him how I kept up the facade of normalcy and perfection at school. How my parents were going to move me to another school. I told him everything._

_Not once throughout the whole thing did he interrupt. He didn't give me advice or try to fix me. He just listened. And later that night, after I had cried myself to sleep on his shoulder, he brought me back to my dorm room and tucked me in. My army knife was missing when I woke up the next morning. When I asked him if he had seen it, he told me no. But it was possible that he would be able to find it on the last day of camp._

I was snapped out of my reverie by him walking in my direction. Was he going to talk to me? Was he going to say something about my cuts? Why was he coming over to me? Then I realized that the only empty seat in the class was the one right in front of me. I pulled my sweater down discretely. Of course, he saw. He raised his eyebrows almost imperceptibly and glanced at my wrists. I pushed my hands under the desk and sighed as he took his seat.

This was going to be a looooooooong school year.

**So... What do you guys think? My first one-shot... Do you think it should become a multi chap? Read and review :D Looking forward to your comments.. ;) **


	2. Chapter 2

Home room passed without incident. Not once did Nicholas speak to me. He neither turned to me, nor did he sneak glances at me. He didn't sneak notes to me. It was as if we didn't know each other. He played games on his phone as I relaxed slightly and observed my surroundings.

The red head sitting at the front of the classroom, dead centre, was the popular girl. Obviously I'd have to avoid her. She was who I would have been had I stayed at my old school. She had her right hands, of course. A blonde and another red head. They were talking and laughing. A dark skinned girl walked up to the group. By the looks on the clique's face she was "nowhere near their social class".

"Hey, Lissa," the dark skinned girl said. "I wanted to throw a party next Friday. I was wondering if you could help me. It's my first ever time throwing a party and you always throw such amazing parties. And I don't want my first party to be a total snooze feast. So? What do you say? Please?"

I vaguely wondered how on earth she managed to fit all of that in one sentence.

"What's the occasion?" Lissa asked.

"It's, umm, kind of my birthday," the dark skinned girl said shyly. "I now you don't really throw birthday parties. But I'm turning eighteen and I really want a party."

"I'm sorry, Monique. I just don't think Lissa will have the time," the other red head said.

Monique's voice and gaze turned hard and cold. "Since when did you become Lissa's spoke's person?" She turned back to Lissa. "Please?" she begged, her voice softening. It became pleading.

Lissa bit her bottom lip, contemplating. She looked at the red head, who narrowed her eyes slightly at her.

"I'm sorry Monique. But it's like Brigid said. I just don't have the time to help you plan a party."

"Ok," Monique said, her face falling. "It's fine. No big deal. Thanks anyways."

Mr. Smith dismissed us then, telling us to hurry to our classes. Nicholas turned to me then.

"What's your first class?" he said softly.

I reached in my bag and pulled out the schedule I'd been given.

"Calculus," I responded.

"Come on," he told me. What? Did he have Calculus too? Was he going to force me to ditch my first class on my first day? "My brother has Calculus too. I'll get him to take you to your first class. Can't have you wandering around like a cockroach without its head on your first day, now can we?"

I smiled a bit. "Thanks."

He picked up his book bag and I did the same. We stood and exited the class swiftly. Most of the kids had already left. The ones who stayed behind were those who obviously idled a lot and skipped class constantly and were often found doing illegal things.

"So where's your brother?" I asked as we walked down the corridor.

"Right here," said a blond haired, mischievous looking boy.

"That's your brother?" I asked disbelievingly.

"Yup," Nicholas' 'brother' said, popping the 'p'. "We're twins." He said 'twins' like it was some kind of mystical thing.

I raised one eyebrow.

"Damn!" the blond exclaimed. "I've always wanted to learn how to do that." He proceeded to contort his face into ridiculous shapes in an attempt to raise one eyebrow. Needless to say, he failed miserably.

Nicholas sighed. "Yes. Rather unfortunately, this is my brother. And yes. We are actually twins. Obviously un-identical."

"Yeah, obviously. I got the good looks," Nicholas' brother said, his face now back to normal. I snorted rather loudly. "Fang? Who is this girl and why is she insulting me?"

"I didn't insult you," I interjected.

"Iggy, this is Maximum. Maximum, this is James, my brother."

"Yeah, yeah. I already know he's your brother. Hi, James. I'm Max."

Nicholas raised his eyebrows at me. Guess he'd never seen me as "Bad-Ass Max" at summer camp. Well, he's seeing it now. Wait. Didn't I come here to start over? I sighed internally and sent an innocent smile Nicholas' way.

"Can you take Max to her first class? Calculus. You're heading there now."

"No chizz, Sherlock," James said as he walked away. "C'mon, Maximum."

"It's Max, James," I called after him.

"Fine. Max," he said. "But if I call you Max you call me The Igster. Deal?"

"Ummm. Can't I just call you Iggy?" I asked.

He pretended to think for a moment. "Iggy. Iggy." He pretended to test it out. "I kinda like it. Iggy it is!" he exclaimed. I smiled a bit. "Ladies and gentlemen, I got a smile." I chuckled. He gasped. "Was that a chuckle I heard?" I shook my head. "So, what's your story anyways?" he asked.

"Huh?" I responded intelligently. My story? Why did he want my story? What did he know about me? What did Nicholas tell him? Did he tell him about my past? My sister? What I did? What I caused? What he caught me doing? I pulled my sweater down a bit. Hiding.

"Yeah," Iggy said. "Your story. Why are you here at Ardenne? And more importantly, why are you hanging around my brother? If you're looking for a boyfriend, I'm a much more suitable target." He flashed a winning smile at me.

I laughed. "I'm here because my parents moved. Change of scenery they said. And I'm around your brother because he's the only person here that I know. We met at summer camp earlier this year. And I'm not looking for a boyfriend," I added with a small smile. I really wasn't looking for a boyfriend. But even if I was, Iggy wouldn't be on the list. I couldn't see him as a boyfriend.

"You were at Summerville?" he asked. "No way."

"Yup."

"Are you sure you didn't convince your parents to send you to Ardenne because you asked my brother out and he said no so you decided that you were going to go to the same school that he goes to so that you could stalk him and murder any female that even comes remotely close to him then kidnap him so that you could be with him forever and ever."

"Ummmmmmm," I responded.

"Ha! You admit it.'

'What? No!" I responded. What on earth? Where did this boy come up with these things? "I was just thinking that you watch a few too many Lifetime movies."

"It passes the time," was his response. "Well, here we are. Calculus."

I took a deep breath. "Any words of advice?" I asked.

"Yeah. Stay alive," he deadpanned. Then he broke into a huge grin. "Hunger games reference. But seriously. The only advice I can offer you, is stay awake and pay attention."

"Stay awake. Pay attention," I repeated. "Got it."

"Ready?" he asked. I nodded. "Great. Let's go in."

**Well, well, well. What do we have here? A second chapter? *gaaaasp* Well a lot of you guys have requested a multi-chap-fic. So I'm giving it to ya. Still haven't found any inspiration for Another Maximum Ride Story. So… Hope this satisfies your cravings. I have a couple ideas floating around in my head. But I'm not sure how to put it on paper just yet. If you guys have any ideas please let me know. Also, check out my other FanFiction Another Maximum Ride Story. And leave your reviews and feedback.**

**As always leave your reviews for this story. Tell me what you think.**

**Oh yeah. This isn't a romance story but it could become a romance based on the ideas I have in my head. Please note: THERE WILL BE NO MIGGY. NONE WHATSOEVER. EVER. EVER. EVER. I'm a FAX girl through and through. So NO MIGGY! **

**Just clearing that up. When I re-read that little scene between Max and Iggy it seemed a little pre-romance to me. Couldn't bring myself to change it though. So… Live with it. MUAHZZ!**

**-Sophie loves ya!**


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